Connecticut Virtuosi announces four-city tour of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’

Photo of Brazilian mezzo-soprano Rebecca Almeida, star of Connecticut Virtuosi's tour of Carmen. Image courtesy of Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. — Photo of Brazilian mezzo-soprano Rebecca Almeida, star of Connecticut Virtuosi’s tour of Carmen. Image courtesy of Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.

The Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra has announced a four-city tour of Carmen, bringing Georges Bizet’s celebrated opera to regional audiences this spring.

The fully staged production, presented as part of the Virtuosi OPERA project, will include stops in Hartford, New Britain, and New London, along with an additional performance outside the state. The performances will feature an international cast alongside the Connecticut Virtuosi, a professional ensemble that has performed classical and contemporary repertoire since 1997.

Brazilian mezzo-soprano Rebecca Almeida will perform the title role of Carmen, joined by American tenor Jax Hussler as Don José. Polish-American baritone Wojciech Bonarowski will appear as Escamillo, with soprano Makaela Shade as Micaëla.

Additional cast members include Jonathan Green as Zuniga, Eliam Ramos as Le Dancaïre, Daniel Kamalic and Kevin Courtemanche alternating as Le Remendado, Addie Rose as Mercédès, and Emily Tate Daniel as Frasquita.

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The production will be conducted by artistic director Adrian Sylveen, who leads the orchestra and Virtuosi OPERA in a staging that includes English supertitle translations.

Set in Seville, “Carmen” follows Don José, a soldier torn between duty and his obsession with the independent and magnetic Carmen. As jealousy intensifies and Carmen shifts her attention to the charismatic bullfighter Escamillo, the story builds toward its dramatic conclusion. The opera remains one of the most widely performed works in the repertoire, known for its iconic music, including the “Habanera” and the “Toreador Song.”

The Virtuosi OPERA project was created to expand the orchestra’s role in presenting opera across the region, continuing more than two decades of involvement in operatic productions throughout Connecticut and beyond.

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Connecticut Virtuosi announces four-city tour of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’